Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A Christening Gown and Frame Made Over in White

I had just a few moments this afternoon to put together a simple vignette to share. A soft dusting of snow was coming down outside, and I was inspired to keep my palette white!

Let me first tell you about the frame. As you might notice in the before photo above, it was one of two vintage ornate gold frames that I recently brought home from an estate sale. It was painted in Annie Sloan's Old White and waxed first with the clear wax, and then with dark, to take it from Victorian to French Chic!

This antique christening gown received a makeover as well! I really do try to be an intentional estate sale shopper, looking over each possible purchase with care. However, I often get wrapped up in the moment and have come away with many a chipped dish or soiled linen. This gown was one of those purchases that I regretted once I got home with it. I hadn't realized just how badly stained it was...all over! I must have had my treasure hunting blinders on! I have never had any luck getting old stains out of vintage linens, and therefore in spite of my love for pretty antique fabrics, I do my best to steer clear of any that need major laundering! Not willing to throw in the towel on this challenge, I decided to try a serious, hard-core stain removal method! First I sprayed each of the stains with Resolve. Then I boiled a large pot of water, added 1.5 scoops of Oxyclean, turned off the burner, and submerged the soiled gown. I left it to soak overnight. In the morning I washed the gown on the gentle "hand wash" cycle in my washing machine. My fingers were crossed but I wasn't holding my breath. After all, those stains had probably been there for several decades! I was so pleasantly surprised by the results. Though not absolutely perfect, 90% of the stains are gone and the gown is now crisp and white! I will think twice before passing up another stained linen at an estate sale!

Just for fun I thought I would see if I had a photo of a baby in a christening gown to share in this post. Turns out I did, and a special one at that!

I bought this darling photo at an estate sale a little over a month ago. A very sweet friend of mine called me up to tell me about this sale she had attended where she saw lots of things she thought I would like. That afternoon my mom and I hopped in the car and drove over to the sale. It turned out to be in the home of an older couple that we had known years ago. We were glad to hear that the woman had just moved into a retirement home. When we came across this photo, we were quite sure it was of the woman's husband, though no name is written on it. The people running the sale assured me that the family had taken everything they wanted, and that this photo was meant to be sold. I was so glad to take it with me, having known the kind man years ago.

Isn't he sweet in his christening gown?

Not until after I had photographed my little vignette and written this post did I notice that my very dear friend, Phyllis had also just written up a lovely blog post about how the snow had inspired her to dress her fabulous boutique in white this month.

Your frame turned out so beautifully Amanda! You did an amazing job on it. Estate sale shopping is such fun. I'm not good at it, but one of my daughters is awesome. She is able to buy some wonderful things for me when she goes.I am so glad you were able to get that sweet little portrait of the baby.

Amanda, I love how this project turned out! The frame is beautiful and who could resist that precious Christening gown? SO glad that most of the stains came out and that you've discovered a formula for future use! Heading over to yhour friend's blog now. Take care! Hugs, Leena